Towards European Conflict Rules in Matters of Personal Status
| Date | 01 June 2004 |
| DOI | 10.1177/1023263X0401100201 |
| Published date | 01 June 2004 |
| Author | Gerard-René de Groot |
| Subject Matter | Editorial |
Editorial
11 MJ 2 (2004) 115
Towards European Conflict Rules in Matters of Personal
Status
In a judgment of 2 October 2003 the European Court of Justice gave an important
incentive to the rethinking and restructuring of the conflict of law rules in force in the
Member States of the European Union concerning personal status issues. The case
involved was referred to the Court by the Belgian Conseil d’État for a preliminary
ruling in a proceeding concerning the refusal by the Belgian state of an application to
change a surname. At first glance the central issue of the case seems to be of modest
importance. However, the consequences of the ruling of the Court could prove to be
revolutionary for developments within the European Union regarding private
international law in respect of family issues.
A Spanish national, Mr Carlos Garcia Avello, was married to a Belgian national, Ms
Isabelle Weber. The couple lived in Belgium with their children Esmeralda and Diego,
who were also born there. According to Art. 8 of the Act on Belgian Nationality the
children acquired Belgian nationality at birth and, according to Art. 17 of the Codigo
Civil Español, they also acquired Spanish nationality at birth. The parents wanted to
enter in the children’s birth certificates as their surname the name Garcia Weber in
conformity with the Spanish tradition regarding surnames. The Belgian Registrar of
Births, Marriages and Deaths refused permission for this and, pursuant Art. 335 (1)
Belgian Civil Code, entered in the birth certificates the complete surname of the father:
Garcia Avello. This precedence of the Belgian rule was based on a general practice in
Belgian Private International Law to consider the Belgian nationality as the effective
nationality of a Belgian national who also possesses one or more other nationalities.1
The parents disagreed with this decision and applied to the competent Belgian
authorities for a change of the surname of their children to Garcia Weber. It must be
1. This is also in accordance with Art. 3 of the Hague Convention on certain questions relating to the
conflict of nationality laws of 12 April 1930 (LNTS 179, 89), under which a person having two or
more nationalities may be regarded as its national by each of the States whose nationality he possesses.
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